M.Phil., Music Theory (Yale University)
B.F.A., Piano (State University of New York at Purchase)

Current research:

Dr. Biamonte’s primary research area concerns the theory and analysis of popular music, with a focus on rhythmic and metric functions in rock music. She is also interested in form and harmony in popular music, music theory pedagogy, and musical historicism in the nineteenth century, which was the topic of her dissertation, “The Modes in the Music of Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms: Historical Context and Musical Function.”

Biography:

Nicole Biamonte has studied music theory, piano, and choral conducting. Before coming to McGill, she taught at Yale University, Skidmore College, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and the University of Iowa. She has presented papers at numerous regional, national and international conferences, including keynote addresses at the Music Theory Society of New York State (2013), University of Ottawa Graduate Student Music Conference (2014), New England Conference of Music Theorists (2017), and a joint meeting of the Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie and the Gesellschaft für Popularmusikforschung (2017). She will also present keynote addresses at the Texas Society for Music Theory (2019) and the Indiana University Annual Symposium for Research in Music. She has led workshops at Music Theory Midwest (2014), the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg (2017), the Society for Music Analysis in the UK (2018), and the Society for Music Theory (2018). She has served as chair of the music theory area and of the SMT Popular Music Interest Group. She recently completed a 3-year term as editor of Music Theory Online. She currently serves on the editorial board of Indiana Theory Review and is an international advisory editor for the journal Popular Music.

Editor, Pop-Culture Pedagogy in the Music Classroom: Teaching Tools from American Idol to YouTube (Scarecrow Press, 2010); author, introduction and chapter on “Musical Representation in the Video Games Guitar Hero and Rock Band”